Solo

Date tbd

OOC: Warning, it's gonna get sad <.<

It had been two days since the two women died. Nicholas had started to organize a double funeral.

It took a while for Opeila to fully realise that it was only them now. Her and her dad. It was weird. The little girl felt like she barely knew the man that raised her. She had always gone to Lady Margary with her problems, always rather gone to her grandmother than her parents.

Lady Margary just was easier to talk to. More understanding. Not like her father, who had always told her to hide everything that was beyond muggle normality. 

Now it was only them. Opeila had not expected that.
But even less she had expected that it would only take a morning for her to lose a home. 

Nicholas threw the newspaper on the table. Opeila barely looked up from her bread. "Bad news?" She asked her father quietly. 

He shook his head. "It is almost ridiculous. Police is all busy with people breaking the virus rules and then does not manage to keep the real crimes from happening. Don't read it, Peila." Nicholas had only seen the headline and pushed the paper away. 

There had been enough death the last few days, he didn't want to be confronted with more of it. And he didn't want it for his daughter either. "Opeila-" "Dad… Is the family where Maybell lives called Tanner?", she asked carefully.
Goosebumps had spread over the little girl's arms, her hands started to shake lightely when her father nodded slowly. Opeila looked at the newspaper, her expression neutral, but in her eyes the shock was clearly visible.

"There... There is a Maybell Tanner in the obituaries." 

Nicholas Seilun's face froze. Slowly he took the newspaper out of his daughter's hands and read the article. He had not wanted to, not at all, but he had to see it with his own eyes.

And there it was, black on white. A fifteen year old Maybell Tanner was dead.
Nicholas went pale, confirming what Opeila already suspected. Feared.

"It is Maybell, isn't it? Bell is dead. They all die… Why are they all dying? What is WRONG?!" 

His eyes widened, when Opeila suddenly slammed her hands on the table, shouting the last words. "Opeila. I need you to calm down." His voice was trembling a little. "Calm down?! What is this! Mum, Lady Margary, now Maybell? This is wrong, this is all wrong, how can they be-? This is not happening…" 

The pain was visible on Nicholas' face. More than pain, fear. Panic. ...Guilt even? Nicholas got up and grabbed his Opeila's shoulders. "Opeila! Calm. Look at me. I need you to pack you trunk right now. You understand? I am so sorry, I will explain, I promise. Don't waste any time, we need to go. Go, go!" 

He gently pushed her towards the stairs. It only took her a second to force the pain in the background a bit and focus on the task he had given her. 

Opeila had caught herself again, but only barely. She was on the edge of panic. Had something from Hogwarts followed her, now trying to kill everyone she loved? That thought scared the heck out of her. She had to explain to her father. 

It was all her fault again, right? Opeila had gotten herself into so much trouble that her family had to pay… 

The thought seemed to tighten her chest, cut off her breath. She had to sit on her bed for a moment, handle the fear, the pain. 

Soon she was back on her feet, throwing everything into her suitcase. With her foot she pushed the little grey cat aside, that hissed at her. "Oh, heck off for a moment, Loras, would you?" 

The cat had been a present of her grandmother. Opeila was not sure why she had chosen that little bother out of all the options at the pet shop. He hated her for sure.

Opeila closed her trunk and grabbed her cat, to put him into his transport box. "Oh shut up…" she murmured in the moody animal's direction. 

She dragged the trunk out of her room and to the stairs. "Peila, don't ruin your back, let me take that, you get in the car!" 

The little girl dropped the trunk, and went downstairs, only the transport box with Loras still in her arms. She could feel him rage inside it, when she sat in the front seat. Her father followed only a minute after, clearly having difficulties carrying her trunk as well. He threw it in the cartrunk and entered the car. "Put the box on the backseats and put your seatbelt on, Opeila. Accidents can happen all the time and we don't want this box breaking your face in case something triggers the airbag.", he said, while putting on his own seatbelt on.

Opeila stared at him. That was his main concern at that moment? She didn't say anything, she just did what he asked of her.
And then he started the car. Left the drive and drove away. Where? "Where do we go?", she asked her father. She didn't get an answer. "When do we go back? Dad!" Nicholas had turned on the radio. Happy music, fit for a nice shopping trip, but just wrong in their situation. "Dad, tell me what is going on!", she demanded, almost yelled at him. Her father frowned. "Watch your tone, Opeila.", was all he said.

Opeila leaned back in her seat and stared out of the window. The fear was like a hot stone in her stomach. "Get my bag from the backseat. There are two envelopes in it. One has your name on it. Your grandmother prepared them both for... a case like this. I have only read mine and I am following her instructions, Opeila."
A case like this? But what was this case? Questions over questions that she hoped to find answers for in the letter that her grandmother wrote.
The little girl reached for the bag, almost had to turn around in her seat to get to it.

Eventually her fingers found the edge of the envelope and she pulled it out of the bag. Turning back around she looked at the envelope. Her name in the neat handwriting of Lady Margary. Opeila was scared to read it. She was scared to rip a wound, that one could not even call healed, open. Numbed maybe. Her grandmother had died two days ago and Opeila had tried not to think of her, although she could almost physically feel her absence in every room. The little girl was absolutely not sure if she wanted to read it.

"You should read it, Peila." Her father had noticed her staring at the letter. Opeila looked at him, but her father stared at the street. Did his grip just tightened around the steering wheel? Did he just get even more pale? She swallowed nervously before she pulled the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it.

My dear Opeila,

I hope that this letter will never need to be given to you. While I am writing this, it is 2010 and you are two years old. I am watching you and Maybell play with wooden blocks- I am not quite sure what you are building- and it feels wrong to prepare for the possibility of my and your mother unexpected early death. I hope with all my heart that you, if this letter is going to be necessary, have already been to Hogwarts for a few years- this is nothing a young child should have to go through.
If you receive this letter, I am not able to prepare you for the rescuing plan in person.

First you have to understand what happened. Your mother's terrible mistake.
Back in Hogwarts your mother met a boy of her age and they fell in love. After school they married. If you have been to Hogwarts already, you might have heard some things about pureblood rules and traditions. This man was a pureblood with very strict opinions and rules, not to mention strong pride. When Maybell was born, it was me, who knew first that she was a squib. Your mother, Maybell and I ran away and hid in Cambridge. Your mother met your dad and they married.
And then your mother made the terribly selfish and reckless decision to have you. Now you need to know, that there are still some purebloods that value familypride over law. And that your mother hurt his pride in multiple ways. First there is a squib in his family. We left him, because he would have hurt her or worse and possibly your mother as well. Then she left him and instead married a muggle. In his eyes she is still his wife, who is with another man. And you are the child of this other man.
And now it is you, who is in danger. If you read this letter, the man, Leopold Ravenburg, has found you and is after you.

As your mother and I are not there to keep you safe any longer, there is another plan.
I once did a finnish pureblood family, the Winter family, a favour. I helped them with my seer abilities and they owe me. Your father sent a letter to the Winters, who will place a portkey at a place that I wrote in the letter to your father. You will be safe there.
You will take a different name and one of the most important rules will be secrecy. You can't tell people in Hogwarts, the less people you know, the safer you are. This man has a great influence in the wizarding world, he has friends in the ministry, you can't seek help there. We don't know who we can trust.

I can't put into words, how sorry I am that you are the one to suffer under your mother's mistakes and my weakness. Know, that I love you, Opeila. I wish you all the luck in the world. You will be safe.

Yours,
Lady Margary Astoria Crane

Opeila stared at the letter, barely noticing the tears that streamed down her face. Someone wanted her dead. Because of who her parents were. Was she honesly meant to end up as collateral because someone felt hurt in his pride?
Secrecy. She was meant to keep it all to herself. Change her surname. How would she keep it to herself? There was no way that she could keep it from Flash forever... There was nothing, she could keep from Flash.

Slowly she turned her head to her father. "...What?", she wispered. "You knew about this? You knew about this... what's his name? Nevermind, Maybells' father all along? The whole thing?" Nicholas still avoided looking at her. "I tried to protect you Peila. I always did. And Maybell as well. What do you think why I sent her away? What do you think, why I reacted to your... outbreaks the way I did? I couldn't risk magical stories getting published in newspapers. And if it happened, I didn't want Maybell in the middle of it." "... Are you blaming me for this?" "I am blaming your mother for this. She knew and she didn't do anything. She told me about magic and her past after you were there already. Too late. See this is, why I can't stand magic, Opeila! I hate it, I really do. Magic is what caused this situation, together with some very bad decisions. Honestly, I am just glad now that you learn in this school how to protect yourself. I will not be able to."

Opeila stared at her father. That outbreak surprised her. He blamed her mother and said it out loud? He, who would never allow anyone to say a bad word about her? "I will protect both of us. We can do it!", she said. Her father only nodded. A little, helpless nod, followed by a helpless look that first showed Opeila that her father was as scared as her, if not even more.

Mentioning @Flash Holmwood